Aseptic cartons are used for packaging liquids such as fruit juice or milk. They are normally formed of paperboard which has been coated or otherwise treated to make it liquid-tight. Each carton is conventionally in the shape of a rectangular block, which enables a number of cartons to be tightly abutted in a multipack arrangement.
It is sometimes desirable for marketing purposes to include a bonus or gift in the multipack carton. This is usually done by omitting one of the aseptic cartons and replacing it with the gift package. For example, in a multipack carton holding eight aseptic cartons, the aseptic cartons are arranged as if nine cartons were being packaged in three abutting rows, each containing three cartons. The space normally occupied by the center carton in such an arrangement is instead filled by a gift carton containing something other than the liquid in the aseptic carton. This arrangement, however, creates packaging problems. The aseptic cartons are normally moved along a first path to a loading station while the gift items are moved along another path to the same station. This means that the aseptic cartons must be segregated into the final grouping of eight and moved into position while retaining intact the gap reserved for insertion of the gift. The gift must then be moved into position and inserted into the gap, after which the final grouping of aseptic cartons and gift carton is inserted into a multipack carton. These maneuvers require complicated product queuing and gift insertion machinery which, in addition to creating additional maintenance problems, tends to limit the speed with which multipacks can be formed.
It would be desirable to be able to simplify the task of grouping and moving the aseptic cartons as well as the task of inserting the gift and the final grouped cartons into a multipack carton.